Funerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun Seshi

Funerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun Seshi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This cone and three others in the collection (15.2.67, .69, .70) have the impression of a seal inscribed for a man named Seshi who was overseer of the ships of the god Amun. Compared to other cones in the collection, these are larger in both diameter and length. They also differ in shape and manufacture. Whereas most funerary cones are solid and roughly conical in shape, these are hollow and become wider towards the middle before they taper to a blunt end. One example, 15.2.70, is preserved for its full length, but the best preserved impression is on cone 15.2.67. The tomb of Seshi has not been identified and most of the cones impressed with his seal have no archaeological context. However, two examples were uncovered during excavations in the Dira Abu el-Naga area by Henri Gauthier in 1906 and it is possible that Seshi’s tomb was in this part of the Theban necropolis.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Funerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun SeshiFunerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun SeshiFunerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun SeshiFunerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun SeshiFunerary Cone of the Overseer of the Ships of Amun Seshi

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.